Judge tosses Georgia abortion ban

ATLANTA – A Fulton County Superior Court judge Monday overturned Georgia’s “heartbeat” law banning abortion essentially after six weeks of pregnancy.

In a 26-page ruling, Judge Robert McBurney declared the law an unconstitutional violation of women’s privacy and equal protection rights.

“This dispute is fundamentally about the extent of a woman’s right to control what happens to and within
her body,” McBurney wrote. “The baseline rule is clear: a legally competent person has absolute authority over her body and should brook no governmental interference in what she does — and does not
do — in terms of health, hygiene, and the like.”

The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the Living Infants and Equality (LIFE) Act in 2019 banning abortion in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law included exceptions for rape, incest, and “medical emergencies,” defined as a life-threatening condition or threat of irreversible physical impairment to the mother.

But federal courts blocked the law from taking effect until 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

The reproductive rights group SisterSong filed a lawsuit challenging the law and won an initial ruling by McBurney in November 2022 declaring the ban unconstitutional. However, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed McBurney’s decision a year later and remanded the case back to Fulton County Superior Court, leading to Monday’s decision.

McBurney ruled that Georgia’s law governing abortion must revert to where it stood before lawmakers passed the heartbeat legislation in 2019, which based the right to abortion on the viability of the fetus, typically between 23 and 24 weeks.

Abortion has been among the most hotly contested issues of this presidential election year. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, traveled to Atlanta Sept. 20 to put the blame for the deaths of two Georgia women in 2022 on the U.S. Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Amber Thurman and Candi Miller died after taking abortion medication left them with some fetal tissue remaining in their uteruses. Doctors worried about running afoul of Georgia’s abortion ban delayed caring for Thurman for 20 hours, while Miller sought to treat herself rather than see a doctor because of the same concerns.

While Harris has called for codifying the Roe v. Wade ruling into federal law, former President Donald Trump – the Republican nominee – has supported leaving the abortion issue to the states.

Students show strong improvement in Georgia Milestones math tests

ATLANTA – Georgia students showed strong improvement on this year’s Georgia Milestones math tests, the state Department of Education reported Monday.

Scores increased on six of the seven assessments, including eight-point increases in eighth-grade math and high-school Algebra.

The Milestones math results were released two months after the results for English/Language Arts, science, and social studies to align with the new mathematics standards first implemented during the 2023-24 school year.

“I am extremely proud of Georgia students and our mathematics teachers and leaders throughout the state, along with all those who contributed to the review and redesign of Georgia’s K-12 mathematics standards,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said.

“Thousands of Georgians participated in the process of creating the new standards. They are truly Georgia-owned and Georgia-grown, and these scores are an early indicator of success for that work.”

The new math standards are designed to be clear, understandable, and age- and developmentally appropriate. They aim to present a reasonable amount of content each year so students can truly master concepts rather than simply being quickly exposed to them.

Helene death toll in Georgia rises sharply

ATLANTA – The death toll from Hurricane Helene in Georgia shot up significantly during the weekend.

At least 25 Georgians died in the storm, Gov. Brian Kemp reported Monday at a briefing in Augusta, one of the areas hit hardest by the hurricane, which struck early Friday morning.

“This storm literally spared no one,” Kemp said after touring damage in the Augusta area. “It looked like a 250-mile-wide tornado had hit.”

After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast Thursday night, Helene tore into the Valdosta area of South Georgia and headed northeast through the Augusta area before moving into the Carolinas. Most of the damage from high winds and heavy rains occurred east of Interstate 75.

About 1.3 million Georgians lost power at the storm’s peak, Kemp said Monday. Nearly 500,000 still were without electricity as of Monday morning.

“I know a lot of people are frustrated,” Kemp said. “[But] things are getting done. … It’s just going to take time.”

While most state highways are passable, Kemp said 573 traffic signals are out across the state. He urged motorists to treat each intersection without a working traffic light as a four-way stop.

Maj. Gen. Richard Wilson, commander of the Georgia National Guard, said about 1,500 members of the Guard are working around the state, transporting critical supplies including food, water, and generators. He said the track Helene took is making recovery efforts particularly difficult.

“This is the first time we’ve had this much damage statewide,” he said.

Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, said emergency shelters are housing 520 Georgians.

Stallings said nearly 700 cellphone sites are out of service. His agency has installed portable towers to handle 911 calls. Starting Monday, crews were opening emergency service centers to distribute food, water, ice, and cleaning supplies.

Kemp said he spoke to President Joe Biden late Sunday afternoon. Georgia has submitted an expedited emergency declaration request.

“This will help us get money flowing quicker to our state,” Kemp said. “We will work in a bipartisan way on disaster relief.”

Georgia voters to decide tax-related ballot questions

ATLANTA – Tax relief will be on the Georgia ballot Nov. 5 in addition to the presidential race and various congressional, legislative and county contests.

Voters will decide two tax-related constitutional amendments the General Assembly passed this year as well as vote in a statewide referendum on tax legislation.

Having already rolled back Georgia’s income tax rate in recent years, the theme this year is property tax relief.

While the state does not levy property taxes, local property taxes are a sore subject under the Gold Dome, said Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a think tank that advocates free-market approaches to public-policy issues. 

“When you talk to legislators, what they hear from their constituents most in terms of complaints largely comes down to local property taxes,” he said. “Rising prices lead to tax bills that really drive people up the wall.”

Two of the three ballot questions deal with property taxes. A proposed constitutional amendment would prohibit local governments from raising residential assessments in a given year by more than the annual rate of inflation, even if a home’s market value has gone up more.

“Given the large increase in home values across Georgia in recent years, many school districts, cities, and counties have been able to count on a boost in revenue without raising tax rates year to year,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones wrote this week in an op-ed. “This has resulted in large and often surprise tax increases for many homeowners.”

The proposal includes an opt-out provision for local governments. However, it requires any city, county and school district wishing to opt out of the property tax break to advertise its intent to do so and hold at least three public hearings.

“While this local option is an important feature of the proposal, it would be disappointing to see local governments utilize it without adequately listening to the concerns of the Georgians it would so greatly help,” Jones added.

If the constitutional amendment passes, local governments wishing to exercise the opt out provision would have until March 1 of next year to do so.

An “enabling” bill the General Assembly passed to accompany the constitutional amendment also gives local governments the option of levying a local sales tax of up to a penny to help offset the lost property tax revenue.

However, a county can impose the sales tax only if every city inside that county that levies a property tax agrees, said Todd Edwards, deputy director of governmental affairs for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

The second property tax-related item on the ballot is a statewide referendum that would increase the exemption on personal property taxes from $7,500 to $20,000.

While the exemption would benefit all Georgians, supporters are pitching it as mainly aimed at small business owners.

“Small businesses already pay sales taxes on equipment, desks, and other property,” said Hunter Loggins, state director for the National Federal of Independent Business. “Raising the threshold for paying this tax would ease the financial pressure on employers struggling with inflation that continues to drive up the cost of owning and operating a small business.”

The third proposal is a constitutional amendment that would create a tax court in Georgia. Supporters say it would be staffed with judges who have expertise to decide cases related to the assessment and collection of state or local taxes. The same argument carried the day when Georgia voters approved the creation of the Statewide Business Court in 2018.

Helene leaves 11 dead in Georgia, fallen trees, flooded roads

ATLANTA – Hurricane Helene moved out of Georgia Friday morning, leaving in its wake 11 dead, toppled trees that caused widespread power outages and massive flooding.

The storm took a different path than had been anticipated, Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters during a late-morning briefing at the State Operations Center in Southeast Atlanta. Rather than heading straight north out of the Valdosta area, Helene veered northeast to Augusta, leaving West Georgia with less damage than had been expected.

“We caught a little bit of a break for some parts of the state,” Kemp said.

But the corridor from Valdosta to Augusta suffered extensive damage, with hurricane-force winds of up to 100 miles an hour reported in Alma, Kemp said.

First responders are working to rescue people trapped inside their homes, Kemp said. One of those killed was a first responder, the governor said.

“One of our finest has lost his life trying to save others,” he said.

Flooding is so extensive in Northeast Georgia that authorities ordered a release of water at Lake Rabun. Homes downstream from the reservoir are being evacuated, said Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

Some of the worst property damage occurred in the Valdosta area, with 115 structures heavily damaged. Kemp said the South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta is without power because its emergency generator was hit by a fallen tree.

“Our priority is getting to medical facilities that need help and don’t have power,” Kemp said.

The state Department of Transportation reported at least 152 road closures, including stretches of Interstate 16 in Laurens County and I-20 in McDuffie County.

The ports of Savannah and Brunswick are operating but with limited service, Kemp said.

Georgia Power and the state’s Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs) reported more than 1.1 million without power as of late Friday morning.

Seventeen shelters were open across the state housing 1,100 people, the governor said.

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said farms and ranches east of Interstate 75 suffered significant damage, including flattened poultry houses and damage to row and nut crops. He said farmers and ranchers must document their losses in order to receive state and federal assistance.

“We need as much information as possible to make sure we get the needed resources,” Harper said.

Maj. Gen. Richard Wilson, commander of the Georgia National Guard, said about 500 soldiers and airmen have been deployed across the state to help clear debris and transport critical supplies including generators, food, and water to areas in need.

Kemp said the damage is so extensive it will take time to assess the extent. But he said the widespread nature of the damage recalled Hurricane Michael, which roared through South Georgia in 2018.

“This is going to be monetary-wise as big or bigger than Michael,” he said.

Kemp urged Georgians not to take unnecessary trips and, if they do go out, to watch out for fallen trees and flooded roads.

“Try to give us a little bit of space out there,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”